Former President of the World Hepatitis Alliance brings two decades of experience in public health, patient advocacy and coalition-building to the organisation

Geneva, 19 April 2018 — The Medicines Patent Pool (MPP) Governance Board today announced the appointment of Charles Gore, founder and former President of the World Hepatitis Alliance, as new MPP Executive Director. Mr. Gore succeeds Greg Perry, Executive Director of the organisation from 2013-2017.

Mr. Gore brings to the MPP two decades of work as an advocate for hepatitis C patients and better treatment alternatives. He established the World Hepatitis Alliance in 2007 to raise awareness of viral hepatitis and, under his leadership, it worked with key countries on three World Health Assembly resolutions, culminating in the global agreement to eliminate viral hepatitis by 2030. The World Hepatitis Alliance has become the largest membership-based hepatitis patient group globally, with 250 member patient organisations from more than 90 nations. Mr. Gore also worked closely with the World Health Organization (WHO) as well as with HIV and tuberculosis constituencies and programmes.

“We are pleased to welcome Charles to the MPP,” said Marie-Paule Kieny, Chair of the MPP Governance Board. “With his strong leadership and management skills, Charles was a perfect choice to lead the MPP at this point in its history. With his support, we are confident that the MPP will succeed in its overall mission of improving access to medicines for millions of people in low- and middle-income nations.”

Mr. Gore was the first president of the European Liver Patients Association from 2004 to 2006. As a former hepatitis C patient, he co-founded The Hepatitis C Trust, the first United Kingdom-based charity for people living with hepatitis C and has been its Chief Executive Officer for the last 17 years. There, his advocacy with the National Health Service and government ministries on behalf of underserved and marginalized communities led the government to commit, in January 2018, to making England the first country in the world to eliminate hepatitis C.

“We look forward to a strong partnership between Unitaid and the MPP under Charles Gore’s leadership,” said Unitaid’s Executive Director Lelio Marmora. “Charles’ courage, determination and vision will bring new energy to the MPP as it steps up its efforts to ensure access to new medicines.”

The MPP was founded and is funded by Unitaid.

“I have been enormously impressed by the MPP’s role in supporting efforts to make HIV, tuberculosis and hepatitis C medicines available in developing countries,” said Mr. Gore. “So, I am delighted to be given the opportunity of working with the Board and staff to continue and grow that role.”

Mr. Gore takes the reins of the MPP at a crucial juncture. The MPP will announce its five-year strategic plan next month on the sidelines of the World Health Assembly. It will also release findings from its feasibility study on the potential expansion of its model to include patent medicines on the WHO Model List of Essential Medicines. The MPP has now signed licensing agreements with nine patent holders and 20 generic companies and product developers. Its generic partners have distributed 5.3 billion doses of medicines to 127 developing countries.

This appointment will be effective as of July 2018.

About the Medicines Patent Pool

The Medicines Patent Pool is a United Nations-backed public health organisation working to increase access to HIV, hepatitis C and tuberculosis treatments in low- and middle-income countries. Through its innovative business model, the MPP partners with industry, civil society, international organisations, patient groups and other stakeholders to prioritise, forecast and license needed medicines and pool intellectual property to encourage generic manufacture and the development of new formulations. To date, the MPP has signed agreements with nine patent holders for thirteen HIV antiretrovirals, two hepatitis C antivirals and a tuberculosis treatment.